What Is Fantasy Soccer?

February 11, 2018

What is fantasy soccer?

Unfortunately, not everyone has had the distinct honor of learning about soccer and fantasy sports at a young age.

As a preliminary matter the football vs. soccer “controversy” needs to be address. Around the world when two teams, each composed of 11 players, use only their feet to guide a ball into a net protected by the other team it is called football. Here in the United States, we like to be difficult so we refer to the same sport as soccer. Since we are located in New York, we will be calling it soccer, but on occasion may use the term football. Now that this issue has been cleared up, we can get back to explaining fantasy soccer.

Fantasy sports in general have been around for quite some time. There are fantasy leagues for American football, baseball, soccer, basketball, rugby, hockey etc. In a fantasy league groups of friends, and sometimes strangers, create a sports league of where each person creates their own “dream team” composed of professional athletes in a particular sport. Each week the virtual teams play one another for points, bragging rights and even a not-so-friendly wager. A fantasy sport league is a great way for friends to get together and talk a little smack talk during the season.

Considering that soccer is by far the most popular sport across the globe, it is not surprised that there are millions of fans that play in fantasy soccer leagues. There are several different fantasy soccer platforms that soccer fans can use – PlayTogga, Fantasy Premier League, MLS Fantasy, MLS Fantasy Boss, Fantasy Serie A, Fantasy Bundesliga etc. EPLFantasyScout will focus on the English Premier League and the PlayTogga platform. As we grow, we expect to add tips and information for different leagues such as Serie A, Major League Soccer or Bundesliga.

Depending upon the platform you have chosen, you will either draft payers to your team or “buy” players using the “money” provided to each team. Your fantasy soccer team will include forwards, midfielders, wingers, defenders and of course a keeper (all of these positions, along with some other soccer lingo will be explained in another blog post so make sure to check back regularly). Once you have assembled your team, each week of the season you will play a team rated by another member of the league. The players will typically earn points for goals, assists, clean sheets and other successful maneuvers. The players will also lose points for missing penalty kicks, losing possession, inaccurate passes, yellow cards, red cards and fouls. The fantasy platform that you chose will provide a breakdown of how they award and deduct points.

It is vital that you keep up to date on player injuries, suspensions, game and season projections so that you can get the most out of your team and league. For example, if your striker receives a red card at the end of game week 3, you will want to make sure that you have another striker to play in his position or are able to reconfigure the team formation to account for the suspended striker’s absence. The same is true for player injuries. You want to follow an injured players recovery so that you can decide whether you want to ride it out, trade him or simply drop him for a free player. Just promise to send us a photo of the trophy when you win your league. Good luck!